Have you ever had to spend hours trying to figure out what to wear and finally conclude “I have nothing to wear” even when you have a wardrobe full of clothes? Well, I have been in that space before and it can be overwhelming to have your wardrobe filled with clothing you don’t really fancy or love to wear. You can learn how to sort out your wardrobe effectively and build one that you will love and enjoy wearing and pairing up every day.
In this age of trendy fashion, it could be so easy to jam up your wardrobe with lots of clothes you might not have need of or wear often. However, you can do more with fewer clothes which is possible with a well created capsule wardrobe. Also, if you would want to stick to your clothing budget alongside spending little or no time in picking your outfits, a capsule wardrobe can be your knight in shining armor helping you create lots of stylish and sophisticated outfits on a budget.
What is a capsule wardrobe?
A capsule wardrobe is a collection of selected essential pieces that don’t go out of fashion that can be mixed and matched together to create multiple looks that you love and would enjoy wearing on repeat.
Remember, we all already have a capsule wardrobe within our closets. All we need do is to sort out and declutter our closets and let go of the “I have nothing to wear” excuse creating a wardrobe we love and which fit our lifestyle. The key to creating a capsule wardrobe is by selecting pieces you love and that works together; pieces that can be matched with at least 3 other pieces in your closet.
The goal is to create a timeless style for ourselves so that we would love and wear everything in our closets and enjoy dressing up every day without stress.
Creating your capsule wardrobe
Know your style personality and lifestyle
Knowing your style is the most important step to building a wardrobe you would love and enjoy re-wearing. Have a broad sense of what styles you prefer. You can ask yourself these questions to help you become aware and understand how to strategically shop to compliment your style.
⦁ What are my everyday activities?
⦁ What do I do in my free time?
⦁ What items dominate my closet and do I enjoy wearing them or wear them often?
So your capsule should be built thinking about the different areas of your life. You can start by keeping track of your go-to outfits in one month to monitor your preferences.
Clean out your closet
After monitoring what you would term your “go to” pieces in the last one month, you would figure out you have an already existing capsule wardrobe in your closet. So, your capsule is a go to rack containing items you love to wear daily based on your lifestyle. To clean out your closet, sort out everything you love and enjoy wearing into a pile and another pile for the items you make excuses for and get rid of them. Organize your go to pile of clothes into different categories and you can decide to build a seasonal capsule or an all year long basics. Building a seasonal capsule can be fun and refreshing as it helps declutter your wardrobe by storing away clothes not needed for that season away, helping you find new ways to mix and match outfits making re-wearing them fun and when it’s time to switch season, the clothes you stored away becomes more like new pieces without you having to go shopping.
Define your colours
Defining your colours is very useful in building a capsule wardrobe. Finding out what colours you love and re-wear often provides you with a reference guide on your preferred colours during shopping. It gives you a guideline for looking out for colours that blends with what you love to wear and already have. You can choose a color palette or a range of color that you love and that work well together.
Learn the re-wearing technique
Re-wearing gives you the opportunity to be creative. Instead of running off to go shopping, practice re-wearing by mixing and matching different pieces of your old clothes together to achieve a new look. Learning this technique is great if you have and are working on a budget. So, when next you have the urge to shop, try re-wearing your pieces by mixing and matching them to achieve a different look.
Invest in quality over quantity
Remember, you will be cycling through the same pieces every day or season depending on your capsule type. So choose quality over quantity so they can stand the wears and tears of re-wearing. Stick with sustainable fabrics of timeless style and of good quality. Choose timeless clothes that are always in style and fashionable regardless of new trends.
A capsule wardrobe checklist
Before adding anything new to your wardrobe, there are a few points to remember to tick off.
⦁ Can it be paired with at least three items that I own?
⦁ How many looks can I create if I add this piece to my wardrobe?
⦁ Does it fit and flatter me?
⦁ Does if fit my style preference and lifestyle?
⦁ Does it match in to my color preference?
Remember not to let the sales get to you. Before you add to your wardrobe learn to use the checklist. Trends will come and go so be strategic about the kind of outfit you want. The next time you go shopping, look to buying pieces that are in your wish list, don’t shop on impulse or let the clothing store define your style and learn to pass on your impulse as this will save you from spending too much on pieces that you might end up not loving.
Follow these basic steps and have fun and enjoy dressing up every day as we challenge ourselves to become intentional fashion beings.
Thank you for your time and I would love to hear your thoughts and tips. Kindly do so in the comment section.